Love your words. It’s true, this nuance you talk about is what makes Rohmer a true film-maker. But what would you say to those who say he is not cinemathic? That cinema is about images and not words?
The problem here is what Kenji points out and that I find abhorring. Oscars are not US driven. I mean, their aim is not anglosaxon cinema, it pretends to be all the cinema in the world, since they can vote for a best feature a spanish movie or an italian one. The few occasions it happened it really annoyed me, because it does imply that they are considering all the films in the world as the best feature and it’s always english or american movies that are picked. Well, this is pure ignorance and being pretentious. And yes, it’s imperialism too.
Rumpelsink, Oscars are not equal to Goya Donatello Cesar, in this way, since their aim goes far beyond their country. America / say US (needless to say that America is not ONLY US) deserves to have their own way of promoting their films, of course, but Oscars is not the right platform, then.
There’s no problem lying with me, Rumplesinks. I am just showing my opinion, I guess the one who’s being incendiary here is precisely you. I do quite like, actually, the best foreign film category in the Oscars, it seems less influenced by what’s mainstream or not, but by its quality. Something that lacks in general in the Oscars. It’s not me who’s talking about pigs.
I agree… don’t ask about how Spain chooses the nominees… but in general, the shit my country sends there never makes it to the 5 nominees. It’s bad, though, that they never send the best. The best ones choose other ways first.
I’d say any Kiarostami is poetic and subtle. Through the Olive Trees especially shows a very kind and warm Iran and its lovely little towns and dear way of thinking.
Kenji: I should find more time to look at all these wonders. And to post some more. I discovered Antonio López through Érice’s movie, and yes, indeed, there’s something mysterious on his paintings: it’s the stillness in each of them, the silence… it’s really something Erice portrays, as well.
I saw Eternity and a Day, blurred… I cried all along the movie… it touched me so much, personally, that I still can’t describe it in words. I felt overwhelmed by the beauty of the images, the relationship between the old and the kid, the poetry in every word, the music, the rain and the bus with the classical music band. And the love it emanes. Someone told me that the movie was some kind of a healing process for Angelopoulos, since his mother and his wife died at the same time, and he always felt he never loved them the way they deserved or, at least, he was unable to show it. Well, Eternity and a Day shows it the best way it could. By going further beyond.
Yes! That’s exactly how I felt. It’s sad but it’s not, it’s filled with love and beauty… how can this be only sad? Then I believe mixing these two antagonists (sadness-joy) is what makes you feel totally out of everything and totally attached to it at the same time.
BlueKim: wow, I didn’t know Chris Marker did a documentary on Tarkovski. I’ll check it as soon as possible! Thanks, your few words on it made my curiosity thrill…
Yesterday night I saw The Mirror, by Tarkovsky. I was fascinated by every single image and poetry, but it was hard for me to understand. I believe the more I think of it I understand it better (or I think I do) though I don’t dare to say it out loud / at least for now…
But I would really appreciate some good “guidelines” to approach such a movie and get a better experience out of it. I thought I was missing out on so much (as every single image seemed to mean something that most of the times escaped my reason) though maybe it’s not all / only about reason.
I would really love your insight. Thanks a lot in advance. Anna.
It’s good to believe it this way, but is it really all free to interpretation? I’m not that sure… there’s a lot of symbols that probably I miss out because of lack of knowledge in history/religion/art… is it that open?
That last point, I love. The deliberate confusion of past and present and characters. I love how you put it: “constantly bleeding into each other”. Not only in characters but also in history and memory and violence, that keeps being present no matter how far you want it to put.
Wow! thank you all! I should read Sculpturing in Time first. Then I guess my approach to his works of art will be more open-minded and real.
Apursansar & Carl: understanding The Mirror as a stream-of-consciousness makes it all more clear to me now. I think we are taught to understand movies & narrations of any kind in a strict narrative way, and that may not always be close to reality, which is usually more chaotic and complex than begin-middle-end. So it’s a prejudice to try to understand everything on this pattern and sometimes makes it poorer to perceive.
Kenji: The quote “entire world reflected as in a drop of water” is very brave, I think. Like a moral approach to art that nowadays lacks so much. By the way, I should soon re-watch Sansho the Bailiff, or else one day I’ll have nothing to talk with you, I’m afraid ;=)
PS. The use of Leonardo Da Vinci in The Mirror was just so beautiful and pure…
Which are your favourite movie scenes where music has enough strength to turn the images truly captivating?
These are some that I remember now… so many will be left out without justice…
- I think, so far, the most amazing musical moments I’ve experienced in cinema were those of Bela Tarr’s movies. (Music by Mihaly Vig). They are pure light. The Satan Tango sequence. The austral opening sequence, the old man naked in a white room surrounded by black devastation, in Werckmeizster Harmonies. The Titanic Bar of Damnation where people stays stills and a smokey voice sings Kesz, Kesz, az Egesz… the camera, slowly moving. etc etc etc.
- The Ending of The Nights of Cabiria, where Giulietta Masina walks, after having seen all the bad and sad, and we hear some people walking down the street and singing and she ends up smiling, with a tear in her eye.
- Blue, by Kieslowski: when Juliette Binoche is trying to forget in the swimming pool, but she can’t escape the music of her mind. Like a knive in her heart.
- Vivre Sa Vie, Godard. When Nana dances in the pub.
- La double vie de Veronique, Kieslowski. The puppeteer Scene, the first time we hear Veronika sing. The later singing in the concert abruptedly ended.
- Down by Law. The opening sequence, with Tom Wait’s Jockey Full of Bourbon. Love it when the music pauses and replays after the women open their eyes /in a static shot / and then we see travelling shots of the city and desolation nature.
- The Ending Sequence in Butterfly Kiss, by Michael Winterbottom, where we see the sad but beautiful culmination of this peculiar love story together with “There’s No Need To Argue” from The Cranberries.
Ok, I’m leaving out so much, but it’s ok for now, I guess. I’d love to know from you.
I was a bit surprised when I heard the news. Tran Anh Hung is a very personal artist and his movies are minimalistic and very special. Do you think it can fit to Murakami’s Norwegian Wood? It seems like the movie should be a blockbuster so that the people who liked the book worldwide will be satisfied by watching the movie, but if Tran Anh Hung sticks to his style, will he manage to fit the expectations? Or else, will he give up his personal style so to make it for a wider audience?
oh yes, Doinel, that Moreau in the streets will be kept with me forever… I think the improvisation in Elevator to the Gallows is what’s makes the movie beautiful and appreciable for film history, isn’t it?
Apursansar: Yes, that’s right. A friend of mine said: oh but the director should be someone really connected to pop culture and western culture, but also connected to the traditional. But then, I can remember he made this “At The Height of Summer”, and he put all those references to US music, and it actually felt really pleasing, to hear Lou Reed during those vietnamese mornings…
I had no idea about the movie you talk, never heard of it. What is it about? Is it settled in Vietnam?
We’ll see… cos I’d love to see a very minimalistic and “quiet” version of Norwegian Wood, as well… it would be beautiful, wouldn’t it? I guess though he may find a good middle point in not having to give up his style and pleasing a wide audience.
By the way, I read he cowrote the script together with Haruki Murakami, as well. So it seems like Murakami wanted his novel to end up in good hands… or at least, that’s my impression.
(ps. Shinji Aoyama would have been a hardcore choice / even though I like him, he’s hard to digest for too many people, maybe it would have been going to extremes…)
Eric Rohmer almost 3 years ago
Love your words. It’s true, this nuance you talk about is what makes Rohmer a true film-maker. But what would you say to those who say he is not cinemathic? That cinema is about images and not words?
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Alternative Oscars from 1980 to the present almost 3 years ago
The problem here is what Kenji points out and that I find abhorring. Oscars are not US driven. I mean, their aim is not anglosaxon cinema, it pretends to be all the cinema in the world, since they can vote for a best feature a spanish movie or an italian one. The few occasions it happened it really annoyed me, because it does imply that they are considering all the films in the world as the best feature and it’s always english or american movies that are picked. Well, this is pure ignorance and being pretentious. And yes, it’s imperialism too.
Rumpelsink, Oscars are not equal to Goya Donatello Cesar, in this way, since their aim goes far beyond their country. America / say US (needless to say that America is not ONLY US) deserves to have their own way of promoting their films, of course, but Oscars is not the right platform, then.
Go to Comment
Alternative Oscars from 1980 to the present almost 3 years ago
There’s no problem lying with me, Rumplesinks. I am just showing my opinion, I guess the one who’s being incendiary here is precisely you. I do quite like, actually, the best foreign film category in the Oscars, it seems less influenced by what’s mainstream or not, but by its quality. Something that lacks in general in the Oscars. It’s not me who’s talking about pigs.
Go to Comment
Alternative Oscars from 1980 to the present almost 3 years ago
I agree… don’t ask about how Spain chooses the nominees… but in general, the shit my country sends there never makes it to the 5 nominees. It’s bad, though, that they never send the best. The best ones choose other ways first.
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Alternative Oscars from 1980 to the present almost 3 years ago
(if they can)
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Alternative Oscars from 1980 to the present almost 3 years ago
:S
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Something lovely and poetic, from Iran almost 3 years ago
I’d say any Kiarostami is poetic and subtle. Through the Olive Trees especially shows a very kind and warm Iran and its lovely little towns and dear way of thinking.
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Our favourite paintings: the great Auteur Gallery almost 3 years ago
Antonio López.
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Our favourite paintings: the great Auteur Gallery almost 3 years ago
Kenji: I should find more time to look at all these wonders. And to post some more. I discovered Antonio López through Érice’s movie, and yes, indeed, there’s something mysterious on his paintings: it’s the stillness in each of them, the silence… it’s really something Erice portrays, as well.
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Angelopoulos condensed almost 3 years ago
I saw Eternity and a Day, blurred… I cried all along the movie… it touched me so much, personally, that I still can’t describe it in words. I felt overwhelmed by the beauty of the images, the relationship between the old and the kid, the poetry in every word, the music, the rain and the bus with the classical music band. And the love it emanes. Someone told me that the movie was some kind of a healing process for Angelopoulos, since his mother and his wife died at the same time, and he always felt he never loved them the way they deserved or, at least, he was unable to show it. Well, Eternity and a Day shows it the best way it could. By going further beyond.
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Angelopoulos condensed almost 3 years ago
Yes! That’s exactly how I felt. It’s sad but it’s not, it’s filled with love and beauty… how can this be only sad? Then I believe mixing these two antagonists (sadness-joy) is what makes you feel totally out of everything and totally attached to it at the same time.
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Our favourite paintings: the great Auteur Gallery almost 3 years ago
Two more:
Munch: Sick Child, a portrait of Sophie, the artist’s sister, that died at young age of tuberculosis.
Lucien Freud / one of his “teenager” drawings.
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CHRIS MARKER almost 3 years ago
BlueKim: wow, I didn’t know Chris Marker did a documentary on Tarkovski. I’ll check it as soon as possible! Thanks, your few words on it made my curiosity thrill…
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Top 5 (or rating) Mizoguchi almost 3 years ago
I’m glad for the thread, I’ve only watch (wonderful) Sansho the Bailiff so far, and it’s good to know where to continue from. Thanks a lot! :)
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ZERKALO / The Mirror / Tarkovsky almost 3 years ago
Yesterday night I saw The Mirror, by Tarkovsky. I was fascinated by every single image and poetry, but it was hard for me to understand. I believe the more I think of it I understand it better (or I think I do) though I don’t dare to say it out loud / at least for now…
But I would really appreciate some good “guidelines” to approach such a movie and get a better experience out of it. I thought I was missing out on so much (as every single image seemed to mean something that most of the times escaped my reason) though maybe it’s not all / only about reason.
I would really love your insight. Thanks a lot in advance. Anna.
Go to Comment
ZERKALO / The Mirror / Tarkovsky almost 3 years ago
It’s good to believe it this way, but is it really all free to interpretation? I’m not that sure… there’s a lot of symbols that probably I miss out because of lack of knowledge in history/religion/art… is it that open?
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ZERKALO / The Mirror / Tarkovsky almost 3 years ago
Thanks for your approach, Josh. It is always good to leave your interpretations to personal intuition. I guess then it can’t be wrong. :)
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ZERKALO / The Mirror / Tarkovsky almost 3 years ago
That last point, I love. The deliberate confusion of past and present and characters. I love how you put it: “constantly bleeding into each other”. Not only in characters but also in history and memory and violence, that keeps being present no matter how far you want it to put.
Go to Comment
ZERKALO / The Mirror / Tarkovsky almost 3 years ago
Wow! thank you all! I should read Sculpturing in Time first. Then I guess my approach to his works of art will be more open-minded and real.
Apursansar & Carl: understanding The Mirror as a stream-of-consciousness makes it all more clear to me now. I think we are taught to understand movies & narrations of any kind in a strict narrative way, and that may not always be close to reality, which is usually more chaotic and complex than begin-middle-end. So it’s a prejudice to try to understand everything on this pattern and sometimes makes it poorer to perceive.
Kenji: The quote “entire world reflected as in a drop of water” is very brave, I think. Like a moral approach to art that nowadays lacks so much. By the way, I should soon re-watch Sansho the Bailiff, or else one day I’ll have nothing to talk with you, I’m afraid ;=)
PS. The use of Leonardo Da Vinci in The Mirror was just so beautiful and pure…
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Favourite composers and film scores almost 3 years ago
Nino Rota, for Fellini’s movies and Visconti’s Il Gatopardo.
Eleni Karaindrou, for Angelopoulos.
and Zbigniew Preisner, for Kieslowski.
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Best Musical Moments almost 3 years ago
Which are your favourite movie scenes where music has enough strength to turn the images truly captivating?
These are some that I remember now… so many will be left out without justice…
- I think, so far, the most amazing musical moments I’ve experienced in cinema were those of Bela Tarr’s movies. (Music by Mihaly Vig). They are pure light. The Satan Tango sequence. The austral opening sequence, the old man naked in a white room surrounded by black devastation, in Werckmeizster Harmonies. The Titanic Bar of Damnation where people stays stills and a smokey voice sings Kesz, Kesz, az Egesz… the camera, slowly moving. etc etc etc.
- The Ending of The Nights of Cabiria, where Giulietta Masina walks, after having seen all the bad and sad, and we hear some people walking down the street and singing and she ends up smiling, with a tear in her eye.
- Blue, by Kieslowski: when Juliette Binoche is trying to forget in the swimming pool, but she can’t escape the music of her mind. Like a knive in her heart.
- Vivre Sa Vie, Godard. When Nana dances in the pub.
- La double vie de Veronique, Kieslowski. The puppeteer Scene, the first time we hear Veronika sing. The later singing in the concert abruptedly ended.
- Down by Law. The opening sequence, with Tom Wait’s Jockey Full of Bourbon. Love it when the music pauses and replays after the women open their eyes /in a static shot / and then we see travelling shots of the city and desolation nature.
- The Ending Sequence in Butterfly Kiss, by Michael Winterbottom, where we see the sad but beautiful culmination of this peculiar love story together with “There’s No Need To Argue” from The Cranberries.
Ok, I’m leaving out so much, but it’s ok for now, I guess. I’d love to know from you.
Anna.
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Best Musical Moments almost 3 years ago
a
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Favourite composers and film scores almost 3 years ago
Best Musical Moments
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Best Musical Moments almost 3 years ago
Oh Grey Daisies, thanks for the links. Philippe Garrel is someone I should really explore.
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Most impressive one-take tracking shot? almost 3 years ago
This is only stadistics. Anyway, I find it interesting. Bela Tarr beats it!
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what can we expect from Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood? almost 3 years ago
I was a bit surprised when I heard the news. Tran Anh Hung is a very personal artist and his movies are minimalistic and very special. Do you think it can fit to Murakami’s Norwegian Wood? It seems like the movie should be a blockbuster so that the people who liked the book worldwide will be satisfied by watching the movie, but if Tran Anh Hung sticks to his style, will he manage to fit the expectations? Or else, will he give up his personal style so to make it for a wider audience?
Go to Comment
Best Musical Moments almost 3 years ago
oh yes, Doinel, that Moreau in the streets will be kept with me forever… I think the improvisation in Elevator to the Gallows is what’s makes the movie beautiful and appreciable for film history, isn’t it?
Go to Comment
Best Musical Moments almost 3 years ago
Oh Les amants reguliers… I can’t wait to see it any longer!!!!
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what can we expect from Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood? almost 3 years ago
Apursansar: Yes, that’s right. A friend of mine said: oh but the director should be someone really connected to pop culture and western culture, but also connected to the traditional. But then, I can remember he made this “At The Height of Summer”, and he put all those references to US music, and it actually felt really pleasing, to hear Lou Reed during those vietnamese mornings…
I had no idea about the movie you talk, never heard of it. What is it about? Is it settled in Vietnam?
We’ll see… cos I’d love to see a very minimalistic and “quiet” version of Norwegian Wood, as well… it would be beautiful, wouldn’t it? I guess though he may find a good middle point in not having to give up his style and pleasing a wide audience.
By the way, I read he cowrote the script together with Haruki Murakami, as well. So it seems like Murakami wanted his novel to end up in good hands… or at least, that’s my impression.
(ps. Shinji Aoyama would have been a hardcore choice / even though I like him, he’s hard to digest for too many people, maybe it would have been going to extremes…)
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what can we expect from Tran Anh Hung's Norwegian Wood? almost 3 years ago
double sorry, Kenji? why?
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